Madison's Schools

Back to pencils, back to books . . . we are getting close to September, which is when our Madison students head back to class (September 5 and 6) with nary a “dirty look” from parents This means we have mere weeks to gear up for the routine ― the shopping, the adjustment in sleeping schedules and juggling transportation issues. Let’s take a look at some ways to prepare yourself and the kids for the annual ritual.

Ease into the new routine

Probably the hardest routine to change is sleep. Kids have been sleeping in every day for the past few months and having to now wake early, to the sound of an alarm, isn’t going to be easy. Ease them into it by starting the new routine a week or two before schools starts

The quality of a school has a direct impact on nearby home prices. Sure, it isn’t the only predictor of a neighborhood’s home values but it’s pretty important. So important, in fact, that a full 35 percent of homebuyers with school-aged kids claim that their ideal home would sit in a neighborhood served by a good school district. Only 18 percent of those without children said the same.

Furthermore, when given a list of factors on which these buyers were willing to compromise, only 4 percent would do so when it comes to the quality of nearby schools, according to a National Association of Realtors 2015 survey.

Since schools are so important to nearby home values, all buyers, whether they have kids or not should research the neighborhood’s schools